NEXT! 14yo from Montreal is now 7’4 (class of 2024 and beyond)

[Hair Canada]

I was thinking 7'6", and up, so Ming counts. When I think of guys like this kid, though, I think of Shawn Bradley or Manute Bol. Very tall, but also very skinny.

Well, setting the bar at 7'6 is quite high. There are very few basketball players (and even people) who reach this height. So when the sample is that small, it's hard to expect that much of it will also have talent, coordination, minimal athleticism, etc. I think we might have a cognitive bias here in that we notice all of the 7'6 players, but don't pay attention to the thousands of 6'9 guys who lack talent and coordination.

As for Rioux, I don't think his body type actually resembles that of Bradley and certainly not Bol. He's actually not that skinny, at least not his lower body. But he is heavy and slow, which are far more important impediments in today's basketball.

[mtr15]

The class of 2024 is starting to get intriguing. A few new prospects have emerged from this summer, namely Christian Nitu and DJ Burke (out of Ajax, ON).

I'm super excited for the future prospects for Burke. He's a tough, gritty combo guard. He can also play the small forward spot. He's currently 16 years of age and is 6'4" and around 180 lbs. He has gotten noticeably taller and stronger compared to this time last year, where he was only 6'0. If he continues to grow, then look out!

Burke can play both ends of the floor. He has terrific ball handling skills (he was exclusively a PG a few years ago), a great rebounder and plays with high intensity all game long. So much intensity that he often gets tired late in games and his shot often hits front rim.

Speaking of his shot, he has tremendous room for growth. Once he gets more comfortable playing with his increased height, then I have no doubt he'll be a consistent threat from outside. He has good form and he's not shy in taking 3s (and he'll take some mid range shots from time to time).

Attached is a YT link to the grade 10 division championship game of the NPH (North Pole Hoops) summer rec league circuit from this past Sunday. Burke's team is DC (Durham City) United and he wears #13. The game took place at the new Playground Global complex in Burlington, ON. I was there in person to watch the game.

Watch on YouTube

Burke's team lost in a buzzer beater (elam ending was in effect). By my count, Burke had 26 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals. He was 10/21 from the field, 3/8 from 3 PT range and 3/6 from the FT line.

[lobosloboslobos]

I assume some of you incredibly knowledge folks must be coaches or agents or scouts or something? Or maybe you're just really invested parents looking for where to place your prospect kid? I can't say that all this is of much direct relevance to me as a Raps fan but I definitely appreciate the effort and knowledge-sharing here. We used to have a lot of teenagers posting who would have gone to these schools and known these kids but it seems we are skewing pretty old these days.

Good luck to all the kids. Raps in 2037.

[Psubs]

I assume some of you incredibly knowledge folks must be coaches or agents or scouts or something? Or maybe you're just really invested parents looking for where to place your prospect kid? I can't say that all this is of much direct relevance to me as a Raps fan but I definitely appreciate the effort and knowledge-sharing here. We used to have a lot of teenagers posting who would have gone to these schools and known these kids but it seems we are skewing pretty old these days.

Good luck to all the kids. Raps in 2027.

fixed

[lobosloboslobos]

I assume some of you incredibly knowledge folks must be coaches or agents or scouts or something? Or maybe you're just really invested parents looking for where to place your prospect kid? I can't say that all this is of much direct relevance to me as a Raps fan but I definitely appreciate the effort and knowledge-sharing here. We used to have a lot of teenagers posting who would have gone to these schools and known these kids but it seems we are skewing pretty old these days.

Good luck to all the kids. Raps in 2027.

fixed

I took our 2027 title for granted.

[mtr15]

I assume some of you incredibly knowledge folks must be coaches or agents or scouts or something? Or maybe you're just really invested parents looking for where to place your prospect kid? I can't say that all this is of much direct relevance to me as a Raps fan but I definitely appreciate the effort and knowledge-sharing here. We used to have a lot of teenagers posting who would have gone to these schools and known these kids but it seems we are skewing pretty old these days.

Good luck to all the kids. Raps in 2037.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm just a big basketball fan and appreciate watching hoops at all levels, especially rising high school prospects. The high school prep basketball scene in Canada and especially here in Ontario is exploding. OFSAA used to be the crown jewel of high school hoops in Ontario but now it is the OSBA (Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association). The OSBA is the premier prep league in Canada and it consists of 18 men's teams and 16 women's teams.

[Hair Canada]

The class of 2024 is starting to get intriguing. A few new prospects have emerged from this summer, namely Christian Nitu and DJ Burke (out of Ajax, ON).

I'm super excited for the future prospects for Burke. He's a tough, gritty combo guard. He can also play the small forward spot. He's currently 16 years of age and is 6'4" and around 180 lbs. He has gotten noticeably taller and stronger compared to this time last year, where he was only 6'0. If he continues to grow, then look out!

Burke can play both ends of the floor. He has terrific ball handling skills (he was exclusively a PG a few years ago), a great rebounder and plays with high intensity all game long. So much intensity that he often gets tired late in games and his shot often hits front rim.

Speaking of his shot, he has tremendous room for growth. Once he gets more comfortable playing with his increased height, then I have no doubt he'll be a consistent threat from outside. He has good form and he's not shy in taking 3s (and he'll take some mid range shots from time to time).

Attached is a YT link to the grade 10 division championship game of the NPH (North Pole Hoops) summer rec league circuit from this past Sunday. Burke's team is DC (Durham City) United and he wears #13. The game took place at the new Playground Global complex in Burlington, ON. I was there in person to watch the game.

Watch on YouTube

Burke's team lost in a buzzer beater (elam ending was in effect). By my count, Burke had 26 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals. He was 10/21 from the field, 3/8 from 3 PT range and 3/6 from the FT line.

Ye, I think I'm with you on Burke. An excellent and powerful athlete with very good size for the PG position. But I'm especially impressed with the vision and the live dribble passing. He has a really interesting combo of scoring and passing. The shot looks very inconsistent though. He can make it, but also has many wild misses. and not great from the line from what I've seen. So that's the one area where he'll really need to improve. But yes, very good potential.

[Kevin Willis]

I assume some of you incredibly knowledge folks must be coaches or agents or scouts or something? Or maybe you're just really invested parents looking for where to place your prospect kid? I can't say that all this is of much direct relevance to me as a Raps fan but I definitely appreciate the effort and knowledge-sharing here. We used to have a lot of teenagers posting who would have gone to these schools and known these kids but it seems we are skewing pretty old these days.

Good luck to all the kids. Raps in 2037.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm just a big basketball fan and appreciate watching hoops at all levels, especially rising high school prospects. The high school prep basketball scene in Canada and especially here in Ontario is exploding. OFSAA used to be the crown jewel of high school hoops in Ontario but now it is the OSBA (Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association). The OSBA is the premier prep league in Canada and it consists of 18 men's teams and 16 women's teams.

Is it like the Canadian AAU?

[mtr15]

I assume some of you incredibly knowledge folks must be coaches or agents or scouts or something? Or maybe you're just really invested parents looking for where to place your prospect kid? I can't say that all this is of much direct relevance to me as a Raps fan but I definitely appreciate the effort and knowledge-sharing here. We used to have a lot of teenagers posting who would have gone to these schools and known these kids but it seems we are skewing pretty old these days.

Good luck to all the kids. Raps in 2037.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm just a big basketball fan and appreciate watching hoops at all levels, especially rising high school prospects. The high school prep basketball scene in Canada and especially here in Ontario is exploding. OFSAA used to be the crown jewel of high school hoops in Ontario but now it is the OSBA (Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association). The OSBA is the premier prep league in Canada and it consists of 18 men's teams and 16 women's teams.

Is it like the Canadian AAU?

Some of the teams in the OSBA have an affiliation with a nearby high school. For example, players in the Orangeville Prep program attend high school at Orangeville District Secondary school. However, there are some teams in which the program and school are the same. Examples include Central Tech (downtown Toronto), Bill Crothers (Markham), Hodan Prep (Vaughan) and Crestwood Prep (North York).

The OSBA season usually runs from October to early March. But with COVID still going on, the schedule may look different compared to previous years.

The AAU season is played during the spring/summer months. The main AAU programs in Canada are Canada Elite, Northern Kings, UPLAY, Bounce Elite and Grassroots Elite Canada. There are others as well. These programs go down to the states to play against other AAU teams down south. For example, Shaedon Sharpe played in the Nike EYBL Circuit this summer with UPLAY and was super impressive. His play in AAU was one factor in him rising up the rankings to the top of the class for 2022.

[PerfectJab]

Canada's population is about 1/10 that of the US. And if we acknowledge the elephant in the room -- the fact that all of the players I mentioned above are Black -- then the ratio of the Canadian Black community to that of the American one is about 1/40.

Oh no he did-ent.